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Google Maps

Google Maps (formerly Google Local) is a web mapping service application and technology provided by Google, that powers many map-based services, including the Google Maps website, Google Ride Finder, Google Transit, and maps embedded on third-party websites via the Google Maps API. It offers street maps, a route planner for traveling by foot, car, bike (beta), or public transport and an urban business locator for numerous countries around the world. Google Maps satellite images are not updated in real time; they are several months or years old.

Google Maps uses a close variant of the Mercator projection, so it cannot show areas around the poles. A related product is Google Earth, a stand-alone program which offers more globe-viewing features, including showing polar areas.

Google Maps provides high-resolution aerial or satellite images for most urban areas all over the world. Most of the world's current satellite imagery is over 5 years old, and thus not accurate in several places...

Google has brought its street view technology to one of the world's most iconic archaeological sites, the company announced Wednesday. "Now the Egypt of your imagination can be brought to life with new Street View imagery in Google Maps, and you can ...

Google Maps' new time slider lets users roll Street View images as far back as 2007. Here are a few sites we found that show the evolution of cities over time. How has your neighborhood changed on Street View? Let us know in the comments. Image: Goog...

Gotta catch 'em all -- April Fool's Day jokes, that is. April 1 has already arrived in Australia and Japan, so Google has started their yearly deluge of tech-themed pranks. This year's Google Maps prank is a throwback to classic 2000s gaming, via eve...

Apple's CarPlay infotainment system will include support for four third-party apps -- Beats Music, iHeartRadio, Spotify and Stitcher -- at launch, which is "sometime in 2014." That's in addition to Apple's Music, Messaging, Podcasts and Maps apps. Ma...

The Google Maps team has announced the addition of new underwater Street View images in locations around Mexico with the help of the Catlin Seaview Survey, an organization documenting the world's declining coral reefs via high-resolution, underwater ...

How do you find reliable information? Back in 2005, a study in Nature concluded that Wikipedia -- at the time, a free upstart just eking its way into the Google results -- was about as good a source as the venerable Encyclopedia Britannica. Though it...

The intimate looks at locations around the globe made possible by Google Street View has changed the way many of us look at the world. But according to a new piece of information revealed by Google, it turns out that our virtual tourism habits aren’t...

Now you can relive a favorite childhood pastime from your browser or mobile device. Google Chrome announced Tuesday a virtual space in which users can create Lego masterpieces. The partnership with Lego, called "Build With Chrome," began in Australia...

Selfie, landscape or portrait, we tend to take a lot of photos -- and some places are more conducive to snapping pics than others. Google released a heat map that highlights the Earth's most photographed locales. Data included in Sightsmap comes from...

The Internet creates new and interesting things every day. Companies, words, acronyms and trends make their way into our daily lives, pop culture and even the dictionary. However, before the advent of the digital domain, many familiar Internet words ...

Every digital behemoth is subject to technical errors -- even the likes of Google Street View. Digital artist Emilio Vavarella sees beauty in the mapping service's colorful and jarring glitches. Since 2012 he has searched for, recorded and curated th...

Google Maps underwent a major redesign in May 2013. Along with an updated look, the popular mapping tool gained some new features to help users navigate and optimize their productivity. In order to get the most out of Google Maps, whether searching f...

Imagine waking up one morning and noticing your smartphone is missing. Really missing, not just buried under your blankets or abandoned in a coat pocket. Now imagine that happened to every single smartphone user. Sound like a bad Twilight Zone episod...

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